Viewership down for Republicans

annekilkenny@hotmail.com
Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in
the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. :)

You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .

Thanks, Anne

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on
a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret.
She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the
gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like
that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with
about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she
had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left
it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin
encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure
that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city
lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for
construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through
to
build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear
title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of
the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to
the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she
claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road
projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget
surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that
will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor
she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the
state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's
surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside
ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly
respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider
removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City
residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against
Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and
withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to
oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Plain
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and
eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their
power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in
the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he
"intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing
of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at
her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's
pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because
he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under
investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than
2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person
that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been
reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor,
she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who
didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah
got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had
no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about
the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute,
the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of
this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved
all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated
and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and
as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically
quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to
nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the
unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be
made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of
package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies
to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National
WildlifeRefuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked
to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state
initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be
a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and
are getting it.

CLAIM VS FACT

*"Hockey mom": true for a few years

*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since

*"NRA supporter": absolutely true

*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex
relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).

*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.

*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation

*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.

*political maverick: not at all

*gutsy: absolutely!

*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.

*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no

*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.

*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!

*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.

*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden
on residents

*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.

*pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do
because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am
no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the
100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against
Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City
of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for
the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to
9,000.
The day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that
the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count
was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996
to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Anne Kilkenny

Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in
the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. :)

You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .

Thanks, Anne

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on
a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret.
She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the
gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like
that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with
about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she
had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left
it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin
encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure
that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city
lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for
construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through
to
build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear
title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of
the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to
the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she
claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road
projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget
surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that
will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor
she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the
state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's
surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside
ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly
respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider
removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City
residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against
Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and
withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to
oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Plain
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and
eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their
power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in
the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he
"intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing
of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at
her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's
pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because
he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under
investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than
2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person
that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been
reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor,
she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who
didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah
got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had
no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about
the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute,
the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of
this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved
all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated
and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and
as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically
quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to
nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the
unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be
made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of
package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies
to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National
WildlifeRefuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked
to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state
initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be
a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and
are getting it.

CLAIM VS FACT

*"Hockey mom": true for a few years

*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since

*"NRA supporter": absolutely true

*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex
relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).

*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.

*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation

*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.

*political maverick: not at all

*gutsy: absolutely!

*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.

*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no

*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.

*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!

*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.

*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden
on residents

*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.

*pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do
because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am
no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the
100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against
Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City
of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for
the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to
9,000.
The day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that
the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count
was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996
to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Anne Kilkenny

thats stupid

And who are you and what have you accomplished in your life?

Wow, Anne,
You sound like a jealous teenager, or --democrat, who has been one-upped by this lady and you're trying to get even for something.

this lady looks so fake. She has too many baggages.

Why is it that all three National Networks , ABC,NBC, CBS, covered the Democratic convention at lenght and are not covering the Republician Convention until the VP nominee speaks at 10:30 PM?

I don't know what to be more offended by. Has this lady been vetted to be able to say all this stuff which I found by trying to look up MSNBC to complain how biased Keith Oberlin is as a commentator. Its very vindictive, and I agree with the other postings this women just sounds jealous. the fact that I was directed to it while looking up MSNBC only shows how liberal biased MSNBC is. Oberlin is the worst. I understand his regular show is an opinion show, but every time he opens his mouth at republican convention he trashes whoever the speaker is. Conversely, all he ever said last week is that "We'll they hit it out of the park with that one." And then the press wonders why they are attacked as being bias. I'll tell you this, This is America, cases can be made for both canidates, but I'll tell you the only people out of touch is the press. Its ashame such a mainsteam network is so biased and they can't admit it. the only good show worth watching is morning joe. I guess the boston globe is a liberal biased paper as well.

I am a 60 year old Democrat grandmother of 4 way out there on the left. Well, I am votting for Mc. Cain because of his VP Palin. I don't trust Obama. Mary

THE ABC, NBC, CBS should serve both campaign. I will not air my favor to this Networks because of bias? ha ha ha wake up media. Be fair......

Now the Republicans are crying foul...funny, they weren't doing that when they were busy stealing elections in 00 and 04! Eat the sh*t you've created Repugnicans!

First to the networks. They didn't broadcast the DNC until the prime speaker, so stop the bias claim. As for the Praise Obama media... they haven't been around since the primary say March. There have been a number of studies on this. As for Anne's post. It is nice to see something on Palin other than "Hockey mom" and daughter "issues" which has very little in my mind to do with this election. Ok, so now, where is the media's coverage of all that Anne has written. We need some one to investigate Mrs. Palin's past. it shouldn't be left up to a poster on a comment forum. Come on "left" media, tell us who this candidate is. Ok So who am I? I am some one who looks at policy first, and character 2nd. Yes, these days I lean left. I voted for 41 back in the day, though. I'd really like to hear some policy from Senator McCain and the republicans.

Pretty lengthy but not surprising since you are just a democrat political hack.

thank you so much ! :) you woukld never know this by her speech tonight.

I just cannot stand the hypocrisy. For years the moral majority types have attacked any and every Democrat that they could possibly could find whose personal life or sex life didn't live up to their "moral standards." But now that one of their own falls short of thier tight strictures (not the Dem's beliefs) they have the gall to say that family and personal life is off limits.

Why was that not the case with Bill Clinton. Why didn't it bother Newt Gingrich and his gang to humiliate Chelsea and Hillary for a very personal mistake of Bill's that should have been handled within their family.

I can't believe that the Republican extreme-right has the nerve to only apply their extreme rules and views to those outside their tight little circle and can't see the hubris and complete lack of anything resembling Christian teaching in such an attitude.

I'm tired of the Republicans running on a platform of less government in our lives. The extreme right of the Republican party wants to dictate almost every aspect of our personal lives and our sex lives. The neo-cons don't care if they violate our civil rights as promised by the constitution.

Yes. Enough!!!!

I'm ashamed of my party tonight, One would think we could come up with something more substantial than Palin's speech. She sounded like a scorned, teenage cheerleader. I had hoped for sustenance but she was clearly trying to fit in with the 'Good 'Ol Boys' club she attests to refute.

On that note, where was the cultural diversity in the auditorium? Every time the cameras showed the audience, it was all pasty white people in suits.

man alive!

So typical of MSNBC. You don't televise the entire event and then play the numbers game. Hey and how about this novice idea? Those folks who watched the Democratic convention might be in the middle of a hurricane/flooding event and may not have the time or the power to watch?

Or perhaps like me, some only tuned in to the DNC to make sure we were well informed/balanced before we cast our vote AGAINST Obama.

I see a lot of opinions here from both sides as well as from these responses. Subtract the opinions from both sides and only dealing with the facts, Palin is still vastly under qualified. I have not heard her address any solutions for the country's problems. It does not and should not matter man or woman as long as she can handle the responsibilities however, she needs to give some substance to her arguments. What ARE her solutions for the economy or dealing with the war(s) or health care? What kind of policy has she set on any of these issues within her past posts? I might vote for her but SHE has to give me a reason to, not Obama or the Dems.

Why is the far left liberals so hateful. What are they afraid of?? Maybe that the Republicans are more what the people want. Less government in their lives and less to special interest groups.

What is happening to this great country of ours! I fear that in the next few years the United States of America will be no more, for the far left loones will have destroyed such a great country that I am so very proud of.

What happened to Patriotism!!!!!

Amen to that, Paul H. I'd like to hear McCain and Palin say something, anything about how they're going to fix the health care crisis, or the mortgage crisis, or close the inequality gap that keeps widening in this country over the past 20 years. So far, all I've heard is the standard lines of "cut taxes" and "drill more," neither of which have worked so far. How about some new ideas, instead of "the economy is strong, it's time to cut taxes" then "the economy is in trouble, we need to cut taxes." One answer does not solve all problems.

i am amazed at how offended people are when someone brings up a number of facts. Based on what I read the bulk of this writing was factual with personal observation and some opinion laced into it. I think the blogger was very clear on what she viewed as opinion. You should probably read this again and not let party or bias blind you.

To personally attack this blogger and to question her experience is redundant because she doesn't need a high post to explain facts in a public forum. Not to mention that it is these facts that are sought after by millions of people trying to make an educated decision about the future of the country and inadvertently the globe.

Does this woman need credentials to bring up the fact that Mrs Palin increased the city budget or that she tried to remove books from a LIBRARY ! Or that she is trying to ban ruling Polar bears an endangered species. ??

She has just as much right to post as any of you previously posted - at least her post is informative.

Thank you for your post Anne. I have also read similar information from others who are standing up for the truth.

From an outgsider I would say this writer is obvious a Jealous woman of Mrs. Palin and a liberal democrate. It has been reported Mrs. Palin has an 80% Approval Rating in Alaska which is unheard of in Politics. It is obvious the writer is one of the minority 20%,

I am an independent and proud to say I have voted both Democrat and Republican in the past. I vote for the person not the party.
I have to search to find what I believe is the best truth I can find and vote accordingly.
The attack on Gov. Palin's family makes the maternal instincts in me come out. I am like a lioness with her cubs. You have a fight on your hands going after the "young". I am a woman proud that we have someone so close to this powerful position and she shows a toughness and intelligence that can not be mistaken.
Enough with the sexist remarks!!!

"I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR"

NOW......... A McCain/Palin supporter

I admire the republican party for 24 years, now I am dissapointed by this party. They lost their moral values by choosing a dysfunctional family to represent America. If it was Michelle Obama who had a 17 year old pregnant would she gets elected vice president? During her speech, instead of telling what she is going to do to make America better, she was being sarcastic , bullying, disgracing community organizer,and blaming the media for telling the truth after investigate on her. If she did'nt want people to know about her pregnant daughter and and her family, why she ran for public office? The media is not to blame.
Margaret

You may be "woman" and you might be able to "roar" but what kind of a mother -- let me rephrase that, what kind of a PERSON deliberately throws her child -- whom she KNOWS is pregnant out of wedlock -- into the media feeding frenzy that she KNOWS is waiting for her. What kind of mother uses a Downs Syndrome baby as a symbol of her "right to life" position? Where is her "protect your cubs" instinct? Buried under her ambition? Not only do her politics stink to high heaven, her instincts as a mother must be non-existent.

Thank yOEu for this bit of History, it supports many of th questions I have had , makes it clear as to why McCain would select her. Although I doubt that he did , I would assume Carl Rove did , which is why McCain has not spent much time with her. But this profile supports the last eight years direction . One might ask who Sarah is loyal too, She has thrown her daughter under the BUS, the young man who has gone from Playing Hockey to a forced marriage . What can be in thier future? She parades her son with special needs around like a trophy for prolife & families with special needs. I am a grandmother of a child with special needs, where have the Republicans been over the past eight years to provide help for the families who are stuggling to help the children. So now a women who has the means and the public forum is using her child to say i will help. Give me a break!
I am a succesful executive , who is a christian and have worked in the global marketplace for many years , I had too as I am a widow. But she does not have to exccept to feed her ego , as she does not provide anything more. Sarah , stay home and raise your children, hunt moose and become a Grandmother because if you are a christian the people in our life ( our love ones)is what matters .
Last night your sarcasm, and critical nature only supported the reality that you are not walking the walk of a Christian.

When I first started reading This post, I thought it might be written by someone who has a grudge. After reading the whole thing, I don't think it's sour grapes. I think it's written by a person that knows Ms. Palin and felt the need to share it with the rest of the country before we make blind decisions. I don't trust the politicians to tell the truth about her and I'm more inclined to believe someone who has watched her in action. I wasn't sure what to do in November but now I believe the right thing to do for the country is vote for Obama/Biden.

No more lockstep party line. Lets do what's right for this country for a CHANGE!

Shame on Mc Cain for selecting the worst of the bunch. Sara Pallin is trailer trash. and the idea that she is presented as an alternate vote from Hillary is an insult to me and women around the country and even the world.

She is a joke, a loud mouth, harsh and querulous and giving her the national stage on which to rage is irresponsible for any leader in the great country. I hope that there are enough clear thinkings voters who can see that a vote for the Republicans this November is a mistake that they will take all the way to their grave.

Typical republican destroy the messenger stategy. I am a 50 year old white male who has never been included in the piss down Reaganomics. I am successful in spite of them. John McCain has never held a real job in his life. I appreciate his service to his country, though better pilots didn't get shot down. I can't think of a heroic thing he has ever done. He doesn't even realize that not knowing how many homes you own speaks volumes about who he is. He actually thought a woman(any woman) would get him Hillary Clinton supporters. His judgement gave us the Keating debacle and the worst campaign finance laws ever crafted. Palin hasn't enough experience to run several McDonalds franchises. I've seen enough of his judgement. Ask his ex-wife. They are going to lose big.

so Roy, being in the service isn't a real job?? 23 combat missions for a war started for this country by Kennedy isn't heroic. I don't think we heard him say he wouldn't serve his country because a democrat was in office. And by the way, all of the service men and woman who died so you could make your ignorant comments and be successful in spite of them., not real jobs??...and after all your other silly comments, just what has obama done for you, or for that matter any of us. Palin could probably run several McDonalds as you say, Obama would be good for flippen burgers. Re McCains judgement, do ask his ex wife. Write a side by side list of accomplishments, both good and bad in your opinion, and see what you come up with regarding the two candidates. Not much on obamas side is there. But you can hope that he and the present hasn't done anything congress will change that. What a comment, not a real job in his life..what have you ever done